Seven million homes were left without power after the latest attacks, the presidency said, tempering joy over the recapture of the city of Kherson as world leaders gather at a G20 summit expected to address the violence engulfing Ukraine. Lviv in the west and Kharkiv in the east were also attacked on Tuesday, authorities said, with Lviv’s mayor saying 80 percent of the city was without power. Zelensky said in a video statement that Russia fired 85 missiles at energy facilities across the country. “We are working, we will restore everything,” he said, as areas across Ukraine reported power outages, including the western region of Ternopil, which reported 90% of users had been cut. And the military command of the Dnipropetrovsk region said an energy facility in Kryvyi Rih had been hit, creating a “complicated” situation for the grid. Moldova, which borders Ukraine, reported power outages due to missiles fired at its neighbor and called on Moscow to “stop the destruction now”. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least half of the city’s residents were without power, two residential buildings were hit and “several missiles were shot down … by air defense systems.” Deputy head of the president’s office Kirill Tymoshenko said the missiles were fired by Russian forces and described the energy situation as “critical”.
“The danger has not passed”
Tymoshenko shared footage of a fire in a five-story Soviet-era apartment building hit by rocket salvos. “The danger has not passed. Stay in shelters,” he added in the online statement. This video released by the Deputy Head of the Office of the President Kirill Tymoshenko shows an apartment building burning after a Russian missile attack in the center of Kyiv. According to the official, Russia hit 2 residential buildings on November 14. The rescue operation is underway. pic.twitter.com/uJ0VLmTDXQ — The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) November 15, 2022 The attacks came after Russian-appointed officials in Nova Kakhovka said they were abandoning the important southern city, blaming artillery fire from Kiev forces, which have retaken swaths of the south after Russia withdrew from Kherson. In the city of Kherson, 41-year-old Olga Genkulova said that “five days passed without water and a week without electricity.” “I knew this could happen, so I was making water,” he said, packing bottles full from the Dnipro River. Ukrainian strikes killed two in Russian territory on the border with Ukraine, the governor said. Zelensky said in a video “it is clear what the enemy wants. He will not achieve his goal.” On Monday he made a surprise visit to the city of Kherson, announcing that the recapture of the regional capital marked the “beginning of the end of the war”. Zelensky told the G20 summit in Bali on Tuesday “now is the time” to end the war, while Washington said the strikes would “deepen concerns among the G20 about the destabilizing impact of Putin’s war”. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Russia is again trying to destroy critical infrastructure in Ukraine. Since September, Ukrainian forces have been pushing deeper into the south. Russia last week announced a full withdrawal from the regional capital of the southern Kherson region, allowing Ukraine to re-enter. Authorities stationed in Moscow in Nova Kakhovka reported on Telegram that state and municipal employees were taken to a safe place. Russian-backed officials said that after Moscow withdrew from the city of Kherson, Nova Kakhovka came under “indiscriminate fire” and “life in the city is not safe.” They also claimed that “thousands of residents” followed their advice to leave to “save themselves”, saying that Kiev forces would seek “revenge from collaborators”.
Key barrier at risk
Nova Kakhovka is located on the east bank of the Dnipro River, now a natural dividing line between Ukrainian forces that recaptured the city of Kherson on the west side and Russian forces on the opposite bank. It is also home to the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam which was seized at the start of the invasion due to its strategic importance supplying the Moscow-annexed Crimean peninsula. The Russian-controlled dam is now in the spotlight after Zelensky accused Russian troops of planning to blow it up to cause a catastrophic flood. News
Explanation: Could Ukraine’s Kakhovka Dam Be Destroyed in Russian Kherson Retreat?
read more
Any defects in the dam would cause water problems in Crimea, which has been under Russian control since 2014 and which Ukraine hopes to retake. Russian forces said last week that a Ukrainian strike destroyed the dam. The Russian-appointed head of the occupied Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, said on Tuesday that the dam was no longer operational. “The situation is more dangerous — not with the power generation — but with the dam itself, which, in the event of an explosion, would flood a fairly large area,” he told state-run Rossiya 24 TV channel, according to Russian agencies. . The loss of Kherson was the latest in a series of setbacks for the Kremlin, which invaded Ukraine on February 24 hoping for a lightning-quick takeover that would topple the government within days. However, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned that Ukraine faces difficult months and said Russia’s military capability should not be underestimated.
